


Five Times Light Asked About L's Art, and One Time L Asked About His

by CoralFlowerDaylight (CoralFlower)



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Artist L (Death Note), Autistic L (Death Note), Autistic Yagami Light, Gen, M/M, POV Third Person, POV Yagami Light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoralFlower/pseuds/CoralFlowerDaylight
Summary: The animation shows a knife dripping with a dark blue liquid, way too thick to be reminiscent of blood. Light can't resist asking,light.y.228What does this mean?fuck_academiachoosing your own path in life isnt homicide, but people will scream bloody murder anyway. the ink is what's left of their plans and the knife is your will.-this fic is about not living up to your potential and somehow actually being totally fine, wow, who wouldve guessed
Relationships: L & Yagami Light, L/Yagami Light, can be read as either - Relationship
Comments: 18
Kudos: 131





	Five Times Light Asked About L's Art, and One Time L Asked About His

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkfeathers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkfeathers/gifts).



> mild arachnophobia warning at the start (brief written description of computer animated eye horror involving them)
> 
> the premise of this fic is L deciding to be an artist instead of a detective and becoming one of those instagram computer artists that posts rly weird animations. inkfeathers had that idea
> 
> idk what year this is set in so ive decided its illegal for anyone to ask

It turns up on Light's explore page and completely baffles him. Like, it's cool (as fuck, not that Light would ever admit to being goth in everything but aesthetic), but what does it _mean?_ Can CGI spiders crawling out of the eyes of a CGI face even have a meaning?

So he leaves a comment:

_**light.y.228** What does this mean?_

And a few minutes later, he actually gets a response.

_**fuck_academia** its about the inevitable choice between killing someone elses dreams for you and killing your own dreams. this animation shows what happens if you pick the wrong choice. the eyes are the windows to the soul and the spiders are predators moving on from your empty husk after theyve drained you dry of all aspiration._

It's the most profound thing Light has ever heard. He follows the account and forgets about it for a few weeks.

2

The next time the guy show up in his feed, it's another computer animation. This one shows a knife dripping with a dark blue liquid, way too thick to be reminiscent of blood. Light can't resist asking,

_**light.y.228** What does this one mean?_

This time, the artist replies in about ten seconds, even though the video was posted hours ago. Light wonders what kind of life this guy leads, if he can sit around all day waiting for notifications. He either types fast or had the explanation prepared to paste in as soon as someone asked.

_**fuck_academia** choosing your own path in life isnt homicide but people will scream bloody murder anyway. the ink is what's left of their plans and the knife is your will._

And this time, Light replies once more,

_**light.y.228** I like that._

3

The next one is an animation of a cat falling into a toilet. Light ponders the meaning of it for a moment before asking. Is it about looking ahead before you follow an impulse? Maybe the artist will say, _there is no use in always landing on your feet if there is a toilet below you when you fall._

So Light asks. 

_**light.y.228** Is this about controlling your impulses?_

_**fuck_academia** no the meaning is my cat is an idiot_

Thoroughly embarrassed, Light unfollows the artist and does his best to forget about the entire thing. 

4

The next time, it's Sayu's fault. She sends him a video with several incomprehensible emojis afterwards, and because it's a real video of real life, Light isn't hesitant at all.

His first thought is that it's gorgeous. It's a human-sized sculpture made out tons of those little coffee creamers glued together in the shape of a skyscraper. The camera pans all the way around it, and then Light's breath actually catches as the video switches to slow motion just in time for a frisbee to fly into the frame. What.

Apparently they weren't glued together. None of it was glued. It all comes crashing down in glorious slow motion, and then Light happens to glance at the name of the account who posted it and does a double take.

Great, this asshole again. Light DMs him instead of leaving a comment so that if he ends up cursing there won't be a public record of it.

_**light.y.228** Why did you do this? What does it mean?_

_**fuck_academia** it's a commentary on the fragile nature of outside validation and approval from authority figures. one mistake sends everything crashing down and makes all your hard work worthless._

_**light.y.228** That's fucked up, and the frisbee was clearly not a mistake. You should have just used glue._

_**fuck_academia** youre misunderstanding. the nature of the medium is that it gets knocked over. if i made it permanent it wouldnt be able to represent the conditional nature of parental love_

_**light.y.228** You're a pretty cynical person, aren't you. You must be fun at parties._

_**fuck_academia** i build my own truth. if you dont like it, please make your own art. i would like to see it._

_**light.y.228** Parental love isn't conditional, that's the whole point. You must have had really terrible parents._

_**fuck_academia** well, i am an orphan, but yes, before they died, they were. my substandard upbringing is a recurring theme in my artwork. thank you for noticing._

And then Light feels horrible. He isn't above apologising, but he also doesn't enjoy it, so he makes it quick. 

_**light.y.228** I'm sorry._

_**fuck_academia** no, i am glad they are gone. thank you for your continued interest in my art. i understand that it does not feel good to watch something beautiful be destroyed, but that is intentional, because it is how i felt when i disappointed my guardians and lost all their respect. in the end there are much better things to put in coffee, like real cream, and self-worth should be built on sturdier foundations than the ways in which my intelligence can be exploited._

Light has no response. He feels sort of breathless. He follows the artist again and actually reads their bio this time.

_L | yes, thats my name | i live with a stupid cat so physical artwork doesnt usually work out for me_

A few minutes later he realises that this time, L said "my" instead of "your."

5

Light sees the thumbnail and his heart leaps up into his throat. He's specifically checked L's account this time because he had a feeling, and the thumbnail is another real life sculpture, this time built out of something pure white.

Light clicks, and sees that it's made of sugar cubes. It's sugar cubes in the shape of a human heart, with delicate scaffolding holding up the portions that jut out over the base. It's the kind of thing Light thinks could have only been made by someone with L's skillset, because the guy must have 3D modelled it before building.

Light has a feeling it's going to get destroyed, and snorts when he's proven right by a cat jumping into the middle of it.

_**light.y.228** Is this one about your cat being an idiot again?_

_**fuck_academia** it's actually about choosing him over romantic prospects. however, that is a great guess. my cat being stupid is the secret meaning of every piece of art i make because he is the reason that most of it is digital. the toilet one just happened to have that as its primary meaning as well_

_**light.y.228** My guess for that one was that it's pointless to land on your feet if you land in a toilet anyway._

_**fuck_academia** thats great. i wish i came up with that_

Light smiles at his phone like an idiot and then realises what he's doing. He scowls and turns his phone off and goes back to studying. 

+1

It's midnight and Light is facing another all-nighter the day after pulling the first all-nighter of his life. Today in one of his classes he got back a graded paper with a red 94 and the words _I've come to expect better from you, Light. Are you okay?_

And Light feels so stupid. So maybe he didn't proofread that one paper before he handed it in, and there were a few typos. Maybe he didn't really get the art he was supposed to write it about. And maybe it's okay since art isn't his major and this won't affect his Major GPA (won't affect his GPA at all because it's still an A).

But his father would ask him why he's even taking that art history class, isn't it a waste of time?

The problem, Light thinks, is that not every painter is like L, with a clearly thought out meaning for everything they paint. Some of them were just _painting_ , treating it more as a skill than an art. Some of them just took their commissions and got really, really good at painting realistic lace or making their brushstrokes so small you can't see them, and that, Light thinks, means _nothing_. There's no symbolism in it. No trauma. No love. No idiotic cat.

(Even L's uncanny valley CGI cat looked better than some of the cats Light has seen in paintings since he started this stupid class.)

L cuts his essay up into squares and folds paper cranes until he's out of paper, because he wishes everything wasn't stupid and terrible. He sets aside the slip with the grade and note on it, and doesn't fold that one. And then he brings all of it outside and sits in the dormitory parking lot with his phone in his hand, a candle in his mouth, and a lighter in his pocket.

He lights the candle and situates everything so it's all visible, and then starts taking video with his phone. He holds the unfolded slip still long enough for it to be read, and then takes a deep breath as he lights the corner of it in the candle flame. He uses this to light all the cranes alight and then just does his best to hold his phone steady as his wishes burn to ashes.

He posts the video on instagram with the caption,

_**light.y.228** I call this one "Academic Writing Is Bad, Actually"_

He cleans up the ashes, blows out the candle, and goes inside, putting the candle and lighter back into his emergency drawer for in case the power goes out.

When he goes back on his phone, he has a comment.

_**leaves_and_beans** what does this mean_

Light clicks the account. They're following him.

_L | personal account_

It's full of photos of a very sweet, but very stupid-looking cat. Light scrolls very far down on impulse and finds some years-old photos of a couple, and wonders which one is L, but that feels like intruding, so he hits the back button and starts typing out a reply to the comment.

He's about to post it when he realises how long it's gotten, so instead he just opens a DM with L and pastes it in, then hits send before he can think it through.

_**light.y.228** It means that I can't even do well enough in my favourite class and there's no hope at all that I'll ever get to take another class like it because I won't have time in my schedule and I should be doing better and trying harder but it's just so frustrating to be so perfect all the time, it's hard, and I wish I could just let go of it without anyone noticing, without it being a big deal, because i don't know if I can keep doing this, it's just impossible._

L starts typing, and for a terrible moment, Light wonders if L will tell him to calm down and stop being so dramatic because a 94 isn't that bad anyway.

_**leaves_and_beans** what class is it_

_**light.y.228** Art history._

_**leaves_and_beans** are you an art student_

_**light.y.228** No. I'm majoring in Criminal Justice. I'm going to be a detective._

_**leaves_and_beans** that sounds really fun_

He should've known L wouldn't get it.

_**light.y.228** I guess._

_**leaves_and_beans** you dont like it?_

_**light.y.228** What? I never said that. It's just not really my favourite thing in the world._

_**leaves_and_beans** was it your idea_

_**light.y.228** My father said I would be good at it._

_**leaves_and_beans** arent you tired of being good_

_**leaves_and_beans** dont you just want to be happy_

_**light.y.228** Yes._

_**light.y.228** I can't._

_**leaves_and_beans** why not_

_**light.y.228** My parents wouldn't like it._

_**leaves_and_beans** they dont own you, Light, no one does_

There's something that Light really likes about seeing his name capitalised by this artist who makes such profound things and ignores every other grammar rule.

_**light.y.228** I'm the only thing distracting them from my little sister._

Light thinks that if he had the power to make people die without any consequences, he might just start with his parents. Especially because of Sayu, because they're hurting her, twisting her up the same way they did to him and they don't even realise it's wrong. You can't change people like that. Light knows his parents will never change, and Sayu deserves better.

_**leaves_and_beans** im sorry_

_**light.y.228** I love her. She's annoying, but I can't let them do that to her._

_**leaves_and_beans** im sorry you have a sister. i wish you could be free_

Light wishes for it too, wishes with the heat of paper burning.

_**light.y.228** Thank you, L._

_**leaves_and_beans** do you think youll post more art_

Light is surprised by the question. He didn't think of the video as art, just as a stupid midnight impulse that he followed because he's sleep deprived.

_**light.y.228** Maybe._

_**leaves_and_beans** i hope that you will, and i hope that you will make more of it, even if you do not post it_

_**light.y.228** I think I will. I would like to._

He just doesn't know if it's going to happen.

Nevertheless, he picks up a sharpie from his desk and draws a very stupid cat on his palm before settling back in to study the night away.

**Author's Note:**

> comment? :3
> 
> ~~made myself weep with this one yall~~


End file.
